Project 21 News

African-American Group Applauds Congress
for Standing Tall; Says Balancing the Budget is Worth A Temporary
Government Shutdown

"The Same President
Who Ran His 1992 Campaign on the Need for a Balanced Budget is
Now Willing to Risk Everything to Prevent One From Being Signed
into Law," Group Says

As long as President Bill Clinton refuses to agree to a seven-year
balanced budget plan, Congress should resist any temptation to
compromise to end the government shutdown, say members of the
national African-American leadership group Project 21. The government
lost its authority to spend funds at midnight on Monday after
President Clinton vetoed a temporary bill passed by Congress to
allow for continued spending. As a result, nearly 800,000 federal
employees, those deemed "nonessential," are furloughed
until a spending bill is signed by the President.

"The same President who ran his 1992 campaign on the need
for a balanced budget is now willing to risk everything to prevent
one from being signed into law," points out Project 21 Chairman
Edmund Peterson. "The time has come for Mr. Clinton to admit
that he either does not want a balanced budget or that higher
taxes rather than less government spending is the method by which
he hopes to achieve one. The only good that can come out of this
is if the American people realize our country can function absent
a mammoth-sized federal government. In the private sector, 'nonessential'
employees do not exist -- in Washington D.C., they compose half
of the federal work force."

The temporary spending bill vetoed by the President on Monday
cut $250 billion worth of foreign and domestic discretionary programs
by an estimated $24 billion, called for the termination of several
agencies, and maintained spending levels at 60% for programs slated
to be eliminated (the last temporary bill which expired Monday
kept spending levels at 90%). In addition to opposing these provisions,
the President has strongly objected to a Republican budget proposal
to maintain Medicare premiums at 31.5% of total patient costs.
To maintain that level, Medicare premiums would rise from $46.10
to $53.50 by New Years Day. President Clinton's proposal follows
the current schedule which means premiums would drop to $42.50
on January 1. Both sides understand that Medicare will go bankrupt
if premiums do not increase. The Republicans' long-term proposal
calls for premiums to increase to $87 by 2002; President Clinton's
plan would have premiums increase to $83 in seven years, but under
the President's plan no increases would take place until after
the 1996 elections.

Except for beltway pundits, hysterical journalists, and federal
bureaucrats, I don't think anyone will notice," proclaims
Project 21 member and motivational speaker Reginald Jones about
the government shutdown. "The Clinton Administration and
the media have engaged in a 'big lie' campaign about the Republican
budget proposals. The refusal of Congress to bend to the spending
habits of the President only means that the federal government
will have to do what every working American does in this country
from paycheck to paycheck -- prioritize."

On Monday, Clinton also vetoed a temporary borrowing bill passed
by Congress that would have prevented the government from defaulting
on its loans for the first time in history. If the debt-ceiling
bill is not signed by Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin
has threatened to use federal pension funds to avoid default.
The debt ceiling has been raised 77 times since 1940, most recently
in 1993. The Congressional borrowing bill would have raised the
ceiling $67 billion over the current $4.9 trillion debt limit.
The proposal also called for the ceiling to be reduced to $4.8
trillion on December 12 with no option by the federal government
to avoid default by raiding the Social Security trust fund or
other government pension funds. In other words, if the debt ceiling
bill is approved by the President, the President needs to negotiate
a balanced budget by December 12, lest the government default
on its payments. Instead of signing the temporary bill, Clinton
decided to veto it while he still has the option of avoiding default
by using money from federal pension funds. The President's other
objections to the borrowing bill were that provisions in it would
have limited habeas corpus appeals for death-row inmates, required
a balanced budget in seven years, and required risk assessment
and cost-benefit analysis before any new health, safety and environmental
regulations could be issued.

Project 21 member Stuart Pigler, Political Editor of Destiny
magazine, stated that "The government shutdown is only going
to hurt the President, because the people most affected probably
voted for him anyway. The rest of America really doesn't care,
no matter how much the Administration tries to convince us that
the average American can't function without the government."